INVITATION TO REGISTER
Come to St Patrick's College in Maynooth, 15 miles/24 km from Dublin, a
great centre of learning on the Irish language (founded in 1795), and close
to many famous sites in its past and present. The conference welcomes all
who are concerned about the role of schools in the future of smaller
languages. It will provide a forum for researchers and activists working
for the maintenance of indigenous languages that face an uncertain future.
There is a discount of #15.00 (fifteen pounds sterling) for registrations
made before 18 July 1999. Early booking is also recommended to get one of
the places on our visit to Gaelscoileanna (Irish language schools) in the
area.
Information on transportation from Dublin to Maynooth (by bus or train)
will be sent to all those who register in advance.
There are concessionary rates for conference speakers, students, unwaged,
and residents of countries with lower per-capita GNP.
There will be a preliminary volume of proceedings distributed at the
Conference.
CONFERENCE SCOPE AND AIMS
It will be a particular feature of our conference to bring the concerns of
"ethno-education", where education mediates between cultures that have been
separate, into contrast with those of "bi-lingual education", where there
has been traditional co-existence, but the smaller language may be losing
out.
One fundamental tension is that while organized education may be a threat
to traditional culture and language (bringing foreign elements to the
explicit attention of pupils), people once educated are more likely to
resist unwanted intrusions from outsiders, and build confidence in their
own traditions.
- So how can education programmes be formulated with clear reference to,
and respect for, local culture?
- Who will be the teachers in such programmes, and how can they be trained?
- In setting up such programmes, is there a useful role for international
organizations (as FEL) to help in negotations with local administrations or
national governments, and indeed international programmes?
In some communities, particularly in Europe, there is no such conflict
between prevailing models of education and the traditions of the language
community. Nevertheless, there has always been controversy on the roles of
the standard language and the mother tongue.
- Ethically and empirically, what is the right balance between option and
compulsion in the curriculum?
- How does the role for minority languages (indigenous and non-indigenous)
bear on the balance between mother-tongue and foreign-language instruction?
FEL conferences, besides being opportunities to discuss the issues from a
global viewpoint, are working meetings of the Foundation, defining our
overall policy for future years. Participants at the conference therefore
need to be members of the Foundation. There are full facilities to join on
arrival, as there are to register, but all are strongly urged to join as
soon as possible, and so take full part in the Foundation's activities in
the lead-up to the conference.
All presentations will be accessible in English, but use of the languages
of interest, for quotation or exemplification, may well be appropriate.
Organizers:
Nicholas Ostler, Christopher Moseley Foundation for Endangered
Languages, England;
Kim McCone National University of Ireland,
Maynooth
Programme Committee:
Akira Yamamoto, Mahendra Verma, Andrew Woodfield, Tony Woodbury, Tasaku
Tsunoda, Jane Simpson, Mari Rhydwen, Jon Reyhner, Nicholas Ostler, Donncha
O'Croinin, David Nash, Chris Moseley, Kim McCone, Tony McEnery, Kenneth
Mackinnon, Karen Johnson-Weiner, Margaret Allen.
Programme
Friday 17 September
a.m. Visits to local Gaelscoileanna (Irish language schools)
p.m
Lunch in University Restaurant
Session 1. Endangered Languages and Education
Conference Opening & Welcome - Cead Mile Failte
Keynote Address
David Bradley Language Maintenance for endangered languages of
central Yunnan, China
Session 2. Finding a policy
Alesia Maltz, Dean Fox To Set Tongues Wagging Again. Mandan, Hidatsa,
Arikara (N. Dakota, USA)
Karen M Johnson-Weiner Educating in English to Maintain German - Amish
R. McKenna Brown Mayan Language Revitalization in Guatemala
Session 3. Looking at the learners
Rachel Hoare The Breton language in education in Brittany: the
passive and active expression of attitudes.
Winifred Crombie, Tamati Reedy
Language Proficiency Testing of Children in Maori
Language Education
Dinner in St Patrick's College Dining Room (Pugin Hall)
Film, video show
Saturday 18 September
a.m.
Session 4. Working with non-written languages
Blair A. Rudes You Can't Say That in Tuscarora: Obstacles to
Literacy in an Oral Language
A. McEnery, M. Lie A Corpus of Spoken UK Sylheti
& P. Baker
Session 5. Ways and means
Diane Johnson, The whaka piki reo programme: in-service provision
for teachers of Maori and through Maori
Ani Rolleston
Bojan Petek Challenges and opportunities for Slovenian language
in the globalized educational arena
Lunch in University Restaurant
p.m.
AGM. FEL Annual General Meeting and elections
Session 6. Role of standard dialects
Agurtzane Elordui Disruption of language transmission among Basque
dialects
Vladimir Tourovski On the use of computers for preserving endangered
languages
Session 7. Open Forum
with shorter, more informal, presentations by attendees of other work in
Education.
Visit to Rath Cairn Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking community)
This Irish-speaking enclave is an hours drive from the conference site in
Maynooth. After a short walk in the country, we shall have the opportunity
to see a video (in Irish with English subtitles) recounting the political
struggle to found this Gaeltacht in 1935-7, to have dinner in the Rath
Cairn Community Centre, and to spend the rest of the evening enjoying
sean-nos (old-style) music and dancing in the attached teach tabhairne
(pub). Locals will be on hand to share experiences in this community where
education in the traditional language now makes up a significant part of
the local economy.
Sunday 19 September
a.m.
Session 8. Impact and future prospects
Kathleen Tacelosky Bilingual Education and Language Use among the
Shipibo of the Peruvian Amazon
Sheila M. Shannon The role of All-Irish schools in the revival of the
Irish language
Jeanette King Lessons from the Maori schooling experience -
thirteen years of Maori immersion schools
Session 9. General discussion and close
Lunch in University Restaurant
p.m.
Outing to two local sites of global interest:
Tara, the pre-Christian seat of Irish kings, where St Patrick used
the shamrock to illustrate a sermon on the Trinity, and Daniel O'Connell
addressed a crowd of 750,000 yearning for Irish independence; and
Trim, with a magnificent Norman fortress once humbled by King John,
home at different times to Jonathan Swift and the Duke of Wellington ("no
more an Irishman through being born in Ireland than he would have been a
horse if born in a stable"), and seen most recently as the stand-in for
York in Mel Gibson's "Braveheart".
***** FORM BEGINS HERE *******************************************************
REGISTRATION: FEL III - Endangered Languages & Education: Maynooth 17-19
Sept. 1999
Name
Address for Correspondence
Phone number
E-mail
Fax number
Do you wish to present a video at the conference (5-20 minutes)? YES/NO
If so:
What format? PAL/NTSC VHS/Betamax/other (please specify)
What would be your title?
Do you wish to present anything to children at the Gaelscoileanna (5 mins
max.)?
YES(5/11-year-olds) -- YES(11/18-year-olds) -- NO
What would be your title?
If you are not listed above as a speaker:
Would you wish to speak in the Open Forum (5-10 minutes)?
YES/NO
If so, what would be your title?
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOOKING OPTIONS: [All prices in pounds sterling - UK currency]
[Please choose Option 1, 2, or 3 from the list of packages below, together
with your required set of extras.]
All options include conference, delegate pack, proceedings volume, dinner
on Friday, lunches & tea and coffee throughout. For residents (options 1
and 2), they also include 2 nights' bed & breakfast (nights of 17 and 18
Sept).
You may pay the Concessionary prices (please mark as appropriate) if you are:
[ ] a speaker (as listed above),
[ ] a full-time student, or otherwise unwaged,
[ ] a resident of a country OUTSIDE the USA, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Israel, Saudi Arabia or Gulf States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland or the
European Union.
[Please send proof of unwaged (e.g. student) status.]
Basic Packages (prices in Irish pounds)
Regular Concessionary
1. Single Room, with separate shared bathroom 125.00 [ ] 100.00 [ ]
2. Double Room, with private bathroom 155.00 [ ] 120.00 [ ]
3. Non-resident 85.00 [ ] 65.00 [ ]
Extras:
A. Rath Cairn Gaeltacht + dinner, music, dance 25.00 [ ] 20.00 [ ]
B. Gaelscoileanna: Irish language schools 7.50 [ ] 5.00 [ ]
C. Tara and Trim: local antiquities 12.50 [ ] 9.00 [ ]
D. Extra night in single (16 Sept.) + breakfast 20.00 [ ] 17.00 [ ]
E. Extra night in single (19 Sept.) + breakfast 20.00 [ ] 17.00 [ ]
F. Extra night in double (16 Sept.) + breakfast 35.00 [ ] 27.00 [ ]
G. Extra night in double (19 Sept.) + breakfast 35.00 [ ] 27.00 [ ]
Note.
We will try as far as possible to accommodate any special requirements you
may have. Please send details as early as possible about the following:
special dietary requirements, partial attendance at the conference, or
accommodation for more than 4 nights etc.
[For non-members] Regular Concessionary
Subscription fee as a member of the Foundation: #20.00 [ ] #10.00 [ ]
(This concessionary membership rate is not available for speakers at the
conference, unless they qualify under one of the other entitlements.)
[ ] Deducting 15 pounds (if paying before 18 July, 1999)
Further note:
We have endeavoured to keep costs to an absolute minimum, to maximize access.
However, any surplus in the fund which is paying for this will go to support
our work in documentation and promotion of endangered languages. If you can,
please add a donation (10%, say?), marking the item below.
Optional donation [ pounds]
Please write the total amount of your payment [ pounds] UK currency
FEL III Endangered Languages & Education: Maynooth 17-19 Sept. 1999
Methods of Payment
- -----------------------------
[ ] 1. Cheques drawn on UK banks (in pounds sterling) should be made
payable to:
Foundation for Endangered Languages
[ ] 2. For cheques in other currencies please add 15% to cover bank charges.
[ ] 3. The appropriate amount may be transferred directly to:
Foundation for Endangered Languages
Account 50073456. Sort Code 08-90-02.
Co-operative Bank,16 St.Stephen Street, Bristol, BS1 1JR, England
[ ] 4. To pay by by Credit Card [VISA/MasterCard] please complete the following
Name as on C/card
....
Address as on C/Card.
................................................................
................................................................
................................................................
Credit Card Number
................................................................
C/Card Date of Expiry
................................................................
Please register me for the conference, with options as above.
Please debit my credit card if payment method 4 is selected above.
Signature Date
Cancellations policy:
Cancellations made up to 18 July 1999 will be repaid in full. Thereafter
there will be a cancellation fee of 50 pounds, but a copy of the
proceedings will be sent to cancellers. Please inform us before 13
September 1999 if you cannot attend: otherwise we shall be unable to give
any refund.
Non-resident registration will certainly be possible on the day, but
availability of accommodation and places on the extra activities cannot
then be guaranteed.
Please return this form with your payment to:
Christopher Moseley
FEL Treasurer
2 Wanbourne Lane
Nettlebed
Oxfordshire RG9 5AH
England
e-mail: Chris_Moseleymon.bbc.co.uk
fax: 01491-641922 or +44-1491-641922